CHAPTER X
Page 98. 1. sur leur ventre rebondi : on their convex sides.
Page 100. 1. écrevisse : Translate by lobster or beet. But ècrevisse means prawn (palœmon serratus). It is highly prized for the table; the American prawn (palœmon vulgaris) is much smaller.
Page 101. 1. il enjamba l'échelle du traîneau : he stepped into the sleigh: he did not touch the step (échelle). — 2. le traîneau fila sans bruit, remontant la rue : the sleigh glided off up the street noiselessly.
Page 102. 1. Un vendredi: it being Friday. — 2. cornette:
(morning-) cap.
Page 103. 1. un coup : un verre de vin. — 2. Faterland : Vaterland, German for Fatherland. — 3. batailleur: fighter,. bully. — 4. Gleiszeller au cachet vert : Oleiszeller with green seal. Gleiszeller is a kind of wine named from the place where the grape is grown.
Page 104. 1. r ancien: old fellow, comrade. — 2. Ça rapporte moins que de prêter à gros intérêts : that is less profitable than to lend at high rates of interest. On page 7, Richter is called the greatest usurer in the country. — 3. Koffel avait un petit coup de trop: Koffel had had a glass too many. — 4. la déesse Raison : Référence is made to the worship of Reason, celebrated for the first time in Notre- Dame, in Paris, November 10, 1793, and afterwards extended throughout France. — 6. du Maximum : The référence hère is to the " Law of the Maximum " made by the Convention in 1793. It forbade charging more than a certain price for the necessaries of lif e, such as grain.
Page 105. 1. une et indivisible : The French Republic was declared "one and indivisible " by the Convention, September 26, 1792.
Page 106. 1. caporal Schlague : Corporal Flog. The German word Schlag means a blow. The flogging of soldiers by caporaux schlagueurs was abolished at the time of the Révolution. — 2. sansculottes : The French Republicans of 1793 wore pantaloons instead of knee-breeches (culotté), and were therefore called sans-culottes. They accepted the epithet as synonymous with patriot.
Page 107. 1. il y a de la ressource : it is possible to do something. 2. sauvent : Subjunctive. — 3. Et prenez bien garde que ce n'est pas impossible du tout : and, mind you, it is not at ail impossible. — 4. florin : A silver coin worth about 42 cents. — 5. thalers : A thaler is a German coin worth about 72 cents.
Page 108. 1. par esprit de calcul : with préméditation. — 2. bassesse : low degree.
Page 110. 1. il se tenait le derrière dans le coin: he stood backed up in the corner. — 2. à la tignasse : by the wool, as we say. — 3. d'un coup de dent sec il lui faisait claquer la patte: with one sharp bite he made his paw crack.
Page 111. 1. enfoncée sous terre: sunk below the street. —
2. il n'y a pas trop de place : there isn't any too much room. —
3. baldaquin: canopy, a covering over a bed from which curtains were suspended. — 4. enfoncement: recess. — 5. martre, fouine, belette : pine marten, stone or beech marten, weasel. — 6. retournées : turned inside out.
Page 112. 1. montant: setting up. — 2. la joue tirée: cheeks drawn in.
Page 113. 1. respectable : to be respected.
